Why parents should thank Cyrus for twerking

It is not my intention to disrespect Miley Cyrus, children, parents, oversized teddy bears or MTV employees, but I am thankful to her for twerking in our faces at last week's MTV Video Music Awards.

Antionette Kerr

It is not my intention to disrespect Miley Cyrus, children, parents, oversized teddy bears or MTV employees, but I am thankful to her for twerking in our faces at last week's MTV Video Music Awards.I can imagine angry eyebrows rising, so please allow me to explain.Miley's antics started an important conversation. Rather than focusing efforts on the firing of MTV employees, I think moms and dads should be thanking them and Cyrus for a couple of reasons.First of all, isn't this what they call a "teachable moment?" Shocked and surprised parents never heard of twerking or understand how popular it is until the Cyrus and Thicke twerktastrophe. Thanks to the constant media stream, now we all know about twerking (which she didn't even execute very well). The dance has been around for years and is referenced in dozens of songs that play on the radio.I learned about twerking last spring when a young woman walked over and asked if I was going to enter the bar's twerking contest. She followed with, "You look like you can twerk." I leaned over to my friend who immediately searched the term on Google and handed me the phone in disgust. Needless to say, we left the bar swiftly, lest we be mistaken for participants in the contest. Thanks to Miley's performance, two days later, the prestigious Oxford Dictionary decided to officially add the word to the English vocabulary: Twerk: "dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance." I prefer my little cousin's definition, which she says as she demonstrates, "It's when you get down real low and stick your butt out and then shake it from side to side like a stripper." Appalled? Well nothing is worse than the trend of young girls posting twerk videos on YouTube (don't you dare go looking for them, just trust me they are out there). The youngest was age 6. How can parents blame the MTV Music Awards for defiling their children? We're talking about the same awards show known for pushing the envelope with stunts such as the Britney Spears and Madonna lip-lock, Diana Ross getting fresh with rapper Lil' Kim, Lady Gaga's meat dress, and then there was the time Kanye West snatched the mic from Taylor Swift (or was that the Grammy awards?). Few audience members seemed surprised. Will Smith said the alleged family reaction photo was in response to Lady Gaga, not Cyrus. Awards shows are forced not only to capture their audience's attention, but to shock people into talking it up on social media. The entertainment business is obsessed with what is trending on Twitter. According to Forbes Magazine (yes, even Forbes talked about the twerkcassion), "Cyrus' performance spurred a massive wave of 306,100 tweets per minute. Put in context, the Super Bowl blackout — thought to be a Twitter frenzy at the time — hit a peak of 231,000 tweets per minute. Election night last year saw a peak of 327,452." Were most 12- to 20-year-olds shocked by her behavior at the MTV music award? Probably not; they have been watching Cyrus twerk for years. On the other hand, maybe Cyrus saved parents from naively purchasing her new album "Bangers." But if the little ones beg for it, be forewarned the first few releases seem to be a tribute to a drug called "Molly" and what the 20-year-old glorifies as the life of a stripper. Parents can't blame Cyrus if they allow their child to download the former Disney star's release, "We Can't Stop," without examining the lyrics to the song. Here is just one stanza."To my homegirls here with the big buttShaking it like we at a strip clubRemember only God can judge usForget the haters 'cause somebody loves yaAnd everyone in line in the bathroomTrying to get a line in the bathroom." In this tidbit Cyrus talks about body parts, cocaine and you can read the rest (all of which will make the cut for the edited radio version). I would ask for forgiveness exposing readers to this wretchedness, but I hope it disturbs parents enough to have the type of honest conversations I find myself having after listening to my cousin's playlists. Regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic status, I find that youths know the words the popular songs verbatim. They even teach me how to break down my grammar incorrectly, when I try to sing along. I want to be the cooler older cousin, but I also worry that parents are clueless about what their children are exposing themselves to. I felt a nagging sense of responsibility after listening to playlists on the way to our last cousin's trip. A few weeks ago, I wrote an open letter ending my long-time relationship with hip-hop. But we can't just blame the artist, the entertainment industry, the network or Twitter for creating this monster. Another Miley Cyrus will show up with a bigger, better gimmick next year. I can't promise this is my last soapbox about music, but I am thankful that Cyrus brought this discussion to our living rooms. Maybe we can't save Miley — she's right, only God can judge her, but she unwittingly brought into our homes candid conversation. I didn't have to be the tattle tale anymore.When I found out about its popularity, I made my little cousins promise to never twerk in public. So now that we all know what twerking is, can we move on to the next question? "How will we ensure children don't grow up to be like Cyrus in a culture that rewards behavior such as hers?" Rest in peace Hannah Montana. Antionette Kerr is a freelance writer. You may email her at kerr@thewritefolks.com.

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